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The girl behind the blog...

Welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy reading about my busy life with my husband of 30 years and our four sons and daughter-in-law. We are now empty nesters and my blog is helping me through the journey. I love the Lord and I love my family. I also love to decorate and go to thrift stores!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

In October we celebrated our Grandson's first birthday and we offered hay rides for all the kiddos. It was so much fun and a dream come true to Mr. Farmer and the farmer's wife (me!). When we first bought our property, we envisioned having hay rides for our grandkids on our little farm someday and now it has come to fruition! Today I wanted to share with you the story behind the little trailer we used for the hay ride.

When we first brought the property back in July of 2013, the previous owners had left this old, broken down trailer out in the goat pen. My husband wanted to take it to the dump, but I begged him not to and said, "I think it can be restored!" My hubby was not interested in restoring it as he had so many other more pressing projects, but my son, Hayden said he would like to do the job, so we talked my husband into sparing it from the dump pile!

In January of 2014 Hayden started the project. First he unearthed it and tore off all the old rotten boards.

Then he removed the axle and wheels.

Now that it's stripped, it's time to rebuild!

He worked every night after work on this project.

It was a fun project for him.

He's new at welding and has learned a lot and did a great job!

My husband helped him build the sides out of plywood and they stained it. They also bought new tires for it.

In just a few weeks, the little trailer is completely restored!

It has come in very handy around the farm!

But the best part by far has been using it for they hay ride for all the little children at Ridley's 1st birthday party!

What joy!

It's hard to imagine that it started out as this old dilapidated thing left out in the field. All it took was some tender loving care!

Thank you so much to all of you who left side kind, loving and encouraging comments on my last post! I cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers, they mean so very much to me and I can feel them! I prayed that God will bless all of you! My heart is still breaking, but I do have hope in the Lord. I believe God will restore our situation just like this old trailer was restored.

"For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord." Jeremiah 30:17

Monday, October 20, 2014

Our little precious grandson turned the big "1" back in October and my daughter-in-law, Brittany, planned such an amazing party for him and it was held at our place with a farm theme.

She made these adorable banners for him out of burlap. We hung the the three large banners stating "Happy Birthday Ridley" above his highchair and the little banner that says "one" on the front of his highchair.

We set out two banquet tables and covered them with old burlap sacks. She made those neat paper poms hanging above the tables. We chose this location, on the north side of the workshop, to be in the shade and close to the house, it ended up being a perfect spot.

Her friend made the delicious cakes.

Ridley got his very own little tiny cake! His cake was made special with much less sugar. :)

We borrowed these neat beverage dispensers from my future daughter-in-law, Rachelle, and offered lemonade and iced tea. I saw the idea of placing them on top of a wood crate on the internet. It saves space, raises the dispensers up and works perfect to house the extra drinking glasses! I love the cute red and white stripe straws Brittany found.

She took a picture of Ridley every month with the same blanket, in a white onesie and a little chalkboard that said how many months old he was. It was fun to see these posted every month on Facebook and for his party she printed them all out and hung them on a string making this cute banner for the party!

For plates we used old pie tins just like the cowboys use to do! I love the cute "Farm Fresh" crate she found and used to hold the pie tins.

We tried to use the blue and white cowboy looking dishes wherever we could.

Brittany found the little chalkboard clips and labeled the food with cute names like "Barnyard Beans", "Berry Patch" and "Fish Pond". She's so clever!

She named the rice crispy treats"Hay Bales." So cute!

Here's another creative cute decoration Brittany made. She made a giant "1" out of poster board and then glued pictures of Ridley that she had taken throughout the year and made sure that there's one with all of his family members. Such a cute idea!

Ridley was blessed with many gifts! Brittany laid out red bandannas for all of the guests to borrow and wear during the party. It made it really fun! She also had cute party favors for all the kids.

Such a cute little family. My prayers cover them.

The children loved feeding the goats apple slices.

I LOVE this darling photo of these two precious toddlers.

Blondie says, "It's time for the hayride! All aboard!"

The hayride was the big event!

The kids were so excited!

We had a couple of criers though. :(

Eric had fun driving them through the property....

...over the bridge...

...and down the lane.

Time for cake! It's Ridley's first birthday cake! Make a wish baby boy!

He was so cute, he loved it when we all sang to him and then he wasn't quite sure what to do with the cake! Mommy helped him out with a little taste.

This was his first time eating sugar!

He loved it! Look at those sweet chubby baby hands! Swoon!

Grammie and Grandpa love their baby grandson!

Time to open the gifts! He got so many wonderful presents! He loved opening them, but was a little confused when Mommy and Daddy took the gift away as soon as he opened it so that he could open another. He was so cute!

This little boy is loved by so many people and he has blessed our lives so much. I pray that the Lord will have His hand upon him his entire life. I pray that Ridley will always love the Lord with his whole heart and will grow to be a man of God. I pray the Lord will always keep him safe and healthy. I pray that the Lord will use Ridley in a mighty way for His glory.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

I have not felt like blogging for the last couple of months, I've kind of lost my creative spark and my passion for it. I actually turned it off for awhile and just this week felt like writing again, which I'm happy about. I don't like vague posts, but unfortunately in respect to others in my life, today I must be vague.

I have been through one of the biggest heartaches of my entire life for the past 6 months (it does not have to do with the passing of my dear sweet mother-in-law or my marriage). My heart is broken. I KNOW that God hears my voice. I know He hears my cries and He wipes my tears. I know that He is going to answer. I AM THANKING HIM FOR ANSWERING. Even though the situation has gone from sad to bad to worse, I KNOW that GOD HAS A PLAN and that GOD IS WORKING! Someday I will be able to tell a VICTORIOUS TESTIMONY about this valley I have been in. For now, I must GIVE IT ALL TO GOD and go about my day.

Here are a few scriptures that have encouraged me during this sad time.

"Now I will relieve your shoulder of it's burden; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble and I saved you; I answered out of a thundercloud." Psalm 81:6-7"Jesus said to him, "All things are possible to him that believes." Mark 9:23"Pray without ceasing" I Thessalonians 5:17"Call upon me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things for which you know not." Jeremiah 33:3"He will be very gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you." Isaiah 30:19"I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to Him and He answered my prayer." Psalm 120:1

If you feel so led, please pray for a miracle in our family. Thank you so very much.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

My beautiful mother-in-love, Alice Rae, is with Jesus now. Her moment of passing was beautiful with the harp playing and her son-in-law quoting scripture to her while her husband of 60 years was holding her hand. Many tears were shed today, but we know we will see her again and we all have so many lovely memories of her in our hearts.

As we opened the doors to leave the facility after Alice died we all saw this beautiful full-arched rainbow. I think it was the biggest rainbow I have ever seen and the colors were so brilliant and deep. A few seconds later there was actually a second more faded rainbow above it that was also the full arch. This really comforted Eric and we felt like it was a special gift from God that He was with us on this sad occasion and that heaven was rejoicing with the arrival of our beloved mother and grandmother, Alice."We are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8"So it was that the beggar died , and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom." Luke 16:22Hugs, Sharon

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Alice and I at a very fun Mother's Day tea that she treated me to in 2010.

Just a few days after my last post about how we moved both my in-laws to our small town and that we were feeling good about getting them settled so we could see them both more often, my mother-in-law, Alice, took a turn for the worse. I went to see her and she would not wake up for me. I thought she was just napping so I left, but later that day I heard that my husband's cousin went to see her too and she wouldn't wake up for her either. I was so worried, so I went down to see her again that afternoon. She was up in her chair out with the other resident's watching TV, but she was asleep in her chair. When I touched her she opened her eyes, but it was as if she was not there. She usually smiled big and said a strong and slow, "Sharrrron!", but she did not do that this time. I wheeled her out to the front porch of the facility and tried to get her to talk. She did not respond much. It was very sad. I told her how much I loved her and what a blessing she has been in my life.

The next Saturday she quit eating and drinking. She has not ate or drank since. We thought we were going to lose her Sunday night, but she hung in there. I am so thankful that all of my boys were able to see her and say good-bye. Hospice has been called and we have a meeting with them today. God is amazing how He arranges things. My sister-in-law, Stacey and her husband Jim, came down Sunday night and spent the night with my father-in-law for a regular planned visit, they had no idea this was going to be happening to Mom. It was just so wonderful to have them in town for all of this and they were staying at Dad's house with him, so it was very comforting to know he was not alone.

It's really sad to me that this is happening now, right after we got them both settled here. I was really hoping to have at least one more year with her, but we don't get to choose these things. Alice has been sick with dementia for 7 years. She fought a good battle and now she's ready to go to the Lord. She is a Christian and loves God, so it is very comforting to know she will be in heaven with a new brain and body.

I could write a book about this woman and how wonderful she was. She was amazing! So full of life! She lived her life to the fullest and touched many lives. She has made this all easier for the family as we found a file in their home called, "My Funeral" and she planned out every detail of her funeral including things like poems and whom she would like to read them and songs and whom she'd like to sing them and even had the photo in there that she chose to put in the local paper. This is just so Alice. She was a planner and she cared about details.

My father-in-law is very sad, but he knew it was coming and he has a lot of support. My husband is doing okay too. I have been very weepy. I think we all thought we were prepared for this day to come, and thankfully, we had a very long good-bye, but in reality, I don't think you can ever be prepared for the onslaught of emotions that come when you are about to lose a dear loved one.

For now, she is still with us, but we know what is coming. Please say a prayer for our family during this difficult time.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:1-6

Thursday, October 9, 2014

I wanted to tell you a little bit about what has been going on with my in-laws lately, particularly, my father-in-law, Jim. What's happening to them is very sad, in fact, heartbreaking. I'm grieving the loss of my in-laws and the way they used to be like in the photo above. They were both so active, strong and vibrant; so loving, giving and supportive. Eric and I both are dealing with all four of our aging parents and it does take an emotional tole and when I say that I mean that it is just so hard on our hearts, it's sad. We are so grateful that all of them are still with us, that is such a blessing, but it's hard to see them in pain and watch them slowly fade away.

To give you a little bit of back story, I will start with about five years ago my mother-in-law, Alice, started to come down with symptoms of vascular dementia, her condition steadily worsened to the point that she needed to go into an assisted living home about two years later. Alice's new home was about 2 miles from their old home where Jim was still living. Jim seemed to be great living on his own; in the beginning he was visiting her every day, running errands, going to appointments, golfing and even fishing with my husband, Eric.

Jim & Alice March 2014.

Fast forward to about one year ago, the fall of 2013. We started noticing that Jim was becoming a little confused. He is very hard of hearing and actually has a cochlear implant, but it's still very hard to communicate with him, especially on the phone. Because of this, the family set him up with Life Alert and we established good relationships with his neighbors and they knew to contact us if anything went wrong.

My special lunch date. April 2014.

We started getting phone calls from his neighbors that he was having difficulties with his Life Alert system. He kept forgetting the instructions and he accidentally turned it off several times causing Life Alert to send an ambulance when it was just a false alarm. We had to go out there and help figure it out several times. They live a half hour away from us, so while we could get out there, it took us time to get out there and if was an emergency, that's too far and if it's non-emergent, it takes a lot of time out of our day, so we started realizing that we were going to start considering some alternative plans.

At the same time we were starting to notice Alice declining as well and getting concerned she was receiving the level of care that she really needed. We limped along status quo hoping and praying they were both alright.

Eric talking with his father about the accident.

So now we will fast forward to February 2014. We got a phone call that Jim was in the emergency room at the hospital. He was found by a neighbor flat on his face out in the street. Jim was conscious, but hurt pretty bad. The neighbor called 911 and the ambulance came and took him to the hospital.

Hayden visiting with his Grandpa Jim after Jim's terrible fall.

We got the call and my husband picked him up at the hospital, stopped by Jim's house to get his things and brought him to our house.

He doesn't know what happened. All he remembers is that he was out on his daily 2 mile walk and he crossed the street and he went down and the next thing he remembers is waking up.

The hospital said no broken bones or concussion, so we were very thankful for that, but was so sad to see his injuries, he was in bad shape. He had a terrible black eye and bump on his head and bumps and bruises all over. He hit his mouth very hard and broke his upper denture partial. After dinner we sat in front of the fire and he held an icepack to his head. He was so sweet and didn't complain. He was very grateful that we were taking care of him.

He stayed the night and had a good sleep. Eric and I didn't sleep so well for we were quite concerned about him. We knew he would recovery from his injuries, but we were so concerned about what made him fall, is there neurologic things going on? What if this happens again? Is he safe to live alone?

The next day Eric and I both had to work, so we left him at the house alone. I brought him a hamburger when I came home for lunch. I really enjoyed hanging out with my father-in-law. He is a very nice man. Well, he seemed to be doing quite well, so Eric took his father home that night.

Jim & Alice with Mackenzie, Brittany and Ridley at one of our family dinners. March 2014

We discussed all of this with Eric's siblings, Mark (who lives back east) and Stacey (who lives an hour and a half away) and we thought perhaps it was time to start having someone checking in on him once a week. We came up with a perfect solution, our daughter-in-law, Brittany, said she would love to take the baby and go over to his house once a week to check in on him, clean the house and cook him a meal. This solution worked out perfect, but unfortunately had to end when Ridley started crawling and it became difficult, but we ended up hiring another friend who took over.

Jim and I enjoying lunch after one of his appointments.

Jim was having a hard time seeing, so his doctor referred him to ophthalmologist. We were concerned that he would not grasp the doctors advice and instructions, so I took him to his appointments. I was happy to do this and we always made fun days of it by going out to lunch and....

...visiting Alice afterwards.

He was referred to an eye surgeon where we learned that he had one of the worst cases of cataracts the doctor has seen. He said it was as though Jim was trying to see through a cotton ball! His right eye's vision was blocked 90% and the left eye was blocked 78%. His right eye was considered legally blind and the left was very close. The good news is that he is a great candidate for the cataract removal surgery and that the outcome should be really wonderful after surgery.

The doctor said that Jim was still legal to drive because the cut off is 80% in one eye, but that he highly recommended he not drive anymore until after the surgeries. Oh, boy, what do we do now? We told the doctor our situation, that Jim lives alone and likes to visit his wife at the assisted living home every day. He said that if it was a short route (which it was) and one that he was familiar with that he could continue to do that, but limit all other driving.

This was good news to get us through, but unfortunately the first available surgery date was 6 weeks away, and Jim had eight separate appointments coming up related to the surgery with clearance from his regular physician, eye measurements, the actual surgery and then follow-up the day after surgery and two weeks after surgery. God was good to us and we were able to arrange rides through friends and family.

The day had finally come for the finally measurements before the surgery. We were having difficulty finding a ride for this appointment, but decided that he could drive himself because it was only a short distance from his house.

I called the night before and told him I would meet him there on my way to work. I arrived at the doctor's office, but he was not there. I called the house, but no answer. Worry and concern ensued. I called Stacey and she called the assisted living home and his neighbors, but we could not find him.

Finally, the doctor got a call from the surgeon's office, Jim had driven to the wrong place and he was confused. Thankfully he was okay, but this was very distressing on the whole family. We really knew that we needed to address this soon.

One week later, it was a Friday and I was off work and my husband had come home real early from work. At about 10:30am we got a phone call from the surgeon's office. Jim was there again and he had no appointment, they went on to tell us that he was very confused and he could not find his car. The nurse that I spoke with told me that they needed us to come and get him because even if he found his car, they could not allow him to drive in that confused state. She also went on to say that she was a mandatory reporter, meaning she had to "turn him in" to the DMV for his driving. Oh my gosh, I just never thought we would ever get a phone call that one of our parents was confused and lost. This was so devastating.

Jim helping Eric in the yard. Eric has a lot on his mind and is very concerned for his father.

Eric and I jumped in the car and headed to the surgeon's office. It was really sad to see him sitting there. He was like a child and was embarrassed that he got lost, but at the same time was not concerned that he was lost. We drove around and around the doctor's office looking for his car and we finally found it. We asked him why he went there and he said he was practicing for the surgery next week. It is all so sweet and so sad. He was trying to be responsible and wanted to practice where he was going, but he forgotten that he was not driving himself to the surgery, but that his daughter would be taking him. It was just heartbreaking.

The circle of life. Years ago little boy Eric watched his big strong Daddy work in the yard, now the father watches his strong son working.

My husband and I brought him to our house for a few days. Eric and I were VERY concerned. We both hardly slept that first night. What do we do? I wanted to scoop him up and have him come live with us at that moment, but thankfully, we talked it all out and realized that we don't need to go to that extreme yet. He is very independent, but he's confused about all these many appointments. He's been doing just fine by himself up until this moment, so perhaps we need to slow down our thinking and pray over this! Also, his vision is terrible at this point, but after the surgery it will improve almost 100%.

We prayed about it and the next day I felt like the Lord pressed an idea on my heart.

Jim visiting Alice in the assisted living home.

Since Eric and I are the closest family to Jim and Alice, we are the ones who are taking them to appointments and being called when there are emergencies. Why don't we move them to our community where they are both just five minutes from us? There is a wonderful care facility in our town and we could move Jim to a nice duplex hopefully within walking distance of the care center. We presented our idea to Eric's siblings and they all agreed and were on board with the plan.

The first step was to get Alice moved. I called the Town Care Center and found out that they do have openings for a female resident! This was not going to be a simple move, for there were many steps to be taken to get her moved, especially now that Medicare was covering her expenses. We had to get a release from her doctor, released from the assisted living home and we needed Medicare's approval. To our amazement, this all went through perfectly and Alice was approved! We moved her to our town in mid July.

Meanwhile, Jim finally got his eye measurements and....

Jim showing me his left eye about an hour after surgery. It's truly amazing!

...his cataract surgery on both eyes....

...and a great follow-up afterwards!

My father-in-law running errands with me.

The next big step was to get him moved to our town.

We found some rentals, but every time we called they were already taken.

My Goodwill buddy!

Then my husband had the idea to sell Jim's old house and buy him a new home in our town. We talked it over with Jim, Eric's siblings and Jim's financial advisor and the plan was approved by everyone.

Jim and Alice at the new Town Care Center where she is doing wonderfully!

We started looking for homes in our town.

My fence scrapping and sanding buddy!

The first house we found, he liked and put a full-price offer on it.

We thought this was going to go through, but....

My Dollar Store buddy!

...we got a call that another buyer came in and offered more than the asking price! What??? Now that's what I call a closed door from God!

So, he kept looking. My husband took his father out again and they found another great house.

My coffee buddy!

Jim put an offer on it and within 2 hours, the offer was accepted and a contract signed and it was Jim's!

My garage sale buddy!

The next step was to put his old house on the market. We called our realtor friend and the house was listed on a Friday and it was sold by Monday! I cannot believe how the Lord is putting everything into place for us!

So, three weeks ago Eric's siblings, Mark and Stacey came to town and we moved their Dad. My husband had the brilliant idea to hire a moving company, which saved us all time and labor!

We still had the big job of sorting through everything, which was hard work, but it was also really fun. We started Thursday night and worked all day Friday.

Friday night we met at the new house and set up our game plan. Saturday was the big move and it went really well! We had everything out of the old house and moved over to the new house. All of the furniture was in place and the beds were set up. That night everyone came to our house for Chinese food and we watched the big Duck game. Eric's dad and brother spent the night in the new house and his sister, husband, Jim, spent the night with us.

The next morning my husband made breakfast burritos and we had a big breakfast together before we headed to the new house again to finish it up.

We had a ton of boxes to unpack, but it went very smoothly.

We got it all done! Here we are after all our hard work. We were such a great team and had lots of fun together. We had every single thing put away in the correct spot and all the pictures were hung. My husband installed the workbench out in the garage and hung pegboard. The house looks amazing!

That night we picked up Alice from the care center and we had a big family dinner at our house with all of our kids. Here she is holding her great grandson Ridley, what a sweet picture!

Jim and Alice and their three kids. It's so sad to see my mother-in-law like this, she is starting to hold her head back and not track and communicate, but we had a very special, lovely, close family dinner together.

Jim loves his new home!

Now we have my in-laws living in our same town only minutes from us and minutes from each other! Now Eric and I can check in on both of them daily and have them up to our house so easily. Jim has completely recovered from his eye surgery and was cleared by the DMV to drive. He still has confusion and hyper-focuses on certain issues, but we feel he is fine to be alone for now and we are hoping things will get better for him now that we have made his world a bit less complicated. God has blessed us so much through this whole journey. I am truly thankful!

"You shall stand up in the presence of the gray-headed and honor the face of an old man and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:32"Honor your father and your mother." Exodus 20:12a